Valley postal workers get a job security boost

STAMPED OUT IN WILKES-BARRE

Imminent closing of Wilkes-Barre distribution center means more mail here, less likelihood of a similar fate

August 29, 2009|By Matt Assad OF THE MORNING CALL

When was the last time you wrote someone a letter and used a stamp to send it? Can't remember? Then you're partly to blame for a massive consolidation plan that has the U.S. Postal Service closing dozens of processing centers to cut costs.

Part of that nationwide plan closes the Wilkes-Barre mail center and funnels more than 50,000 pieces of mail a day into the underused Lehigh Valley Processing and Distribution Center in Hanover Township, Northampton County.

That's bad news for the 200 people working in Wilkes-Barre, who soon may have to travel to Scranton, the Lehigh Valley or other operations farther away. It's good news for 527 Lehigh Valley postal workers who now stand a greater chance of surviving major cuts by a Postal Service that is expected to lose $7 billion this year.

The changes will take place over several months and are projected to reduce jobs by 44 workers and save $3.9 million a year. They won't affect delivery to customers at home, said Ray Daiutolo Sr., a regional spokesman for the Postal Service.

"People just don't send each other letters anymore," Daiutolo said. "It's a new age. We're all learning to adjust."

That adjustment is particularly harsh for the Postal Service, which is closing offices, freezing salaries, offering early retirement packages and cutting staff by up to 19 percent at some facilities, Daiutolo said.

The closing of the Wilkes-Barre processing center means any of its customers whose ZIP code begins with 182, which includes the Hazleton and Tamaqua areas, will now be served by the Lehigh Valley. Those Wilkes-Barre customers whose ZIP code begins with 186 or 187 will have their mail go through Scranton.

It all comes because e-mail, online bill paying and the down economy have caused a free fall in the amount of paper mail being delivered. Millions of people have abandoned the Postal Service for the Internet -- the term "snail mail" isn't exactly meant as flattery.

In the Lehigh Valley alone, the amount of mail handled in the past year is down 110 million pieces -- a 17 percent drop from the previous year, said Brian Stewart, plant manager for the Lehigh Valley processing center.

So, with the Valley facility running at well below capacity, the prospect of getting more than 20 million additional pieces of mail per year raises the level of job security for Valley postal workers.

With more mail being diverted here, it is less likely that future consolidations will close the Valley plant, and less likely that workers here will be transferred to jobs that could be hundreds of miles away, Stewart said.

"It's bad that this consolidation has to be done, but it's good for us," Stewart said. "Every worker in this plant has to feel better about our future."

It's unclear how many new workers will be stationed in the Valley. As many as 30 in the Valley are expected to take the early retirements being offered this week, and national postal officials have not told Stewart how many will come from Wilkes-Barre.

Daiutolo said the transfers will begin in October and continue until January, when the Wilkes-Barre center will be closed.